The Bloggers of Catan

Catanism, the blog for serious Catan fans. This blog is where Klaus Teuber and the rest of the “Bloggers of Catan” write about new game developments and provide lots of in-depth information about each title.

Part 4 – History of Catan and Illustration
In my fourth blog post, I originally wanted to present the Introductory Game. However, it will still take some more time to finish all cards of the Introductory Game, and Michael Menzel sent me an interesting report on the development of the card “City.” So I spontaneously decided to dedicate my fourth blog post to the history of Catan and the card illustrations influenced by this history.
The Fictitious History of Catan
When I developed the Card Game in 1995, I didn’t think much about the illustrations. …

Part 3 – First Concept and Development
During the second half of 2008, when the future of the Card Game seemed uncertain due to decreasing sales figures, I thought about what could be improved to lay the foundations to reposition the Card Game.
I often had given the Card Game as a present during the past years – primarily to couples who usually didn’t play very often, and when they did, they played among themselves. …

Part 2 – Expanding the Card Game
In 1997, the “Tournament Set for the Card Game” was published as the first Card Game expansion. My inspiration for this expansion came from “Magic, the Gathering,” during the mid-nineties a cult game in Germany. Although the rules of the two games are totally different, they do have one thing in common: …

Part 1 – Birth of the Card Game
A revised version of the Catan Card Game with new content and graphics will be published in fall 2010 under the title of “The Princes of Catan” (working title).
In this blog and the following ones, I will talk about the background to this revision and introduce the new card illustrations as we go along. …

My name is Sebastian Rapp, and I am a product manager at the publishing house KOSMOS. Sounds impressive, right? In the past, I also liked to call myself the “maid-of-all-work at KOSMOS regarding Catan,” but ever since Carol supports me in the area of marketing I am only the “maid-of-almost-all-work,” fortunately …
When people ask me what I do for a living, they interestingly don’t inquire that much about what a “Product Manager for Catan” does. …

In Chapter One, I explained how my brother and his wife introduced me to Die Siedler von Catan (The Settlers of Catan), and how I grabbed the base game and several expansions while visiting them when they were living in Germany.
Chapter Two: Hopelessly Addicted
Being unaware of the American gaming market, I had no idea that Mayfair had been publishing The Settlers of Catan in English for years. …

Chapter One: Play With Me!
As many gamers know, finding opponents isn’t always easy. Family members are often our favorite foes, but let’s face it: if you’re into gaming, you just might be a little more aggressive than they are, and they just might get tired of playing with you because of it. …

“So, what are you doing next weekend?” “Oh well, I’ll be at a work-related meeting.”
Every so often I refrain from mentioning the exact name “Catan Weekend,” because it doesn’t mean much even to those who, in principle, know what I do for a living. That’s why I’m using this opportunity to place a corresponding reference here in our Catan blog, for future inquiries.
Kosmos Verlag has been hosting the Catan weekend since 1998. …

First of all, I’d like to briefly introduce myself. I work for the publisher KOSMOS Verlag, where I’m responsible for the entire marketing of family games and games for adults. My activities are focused on the areas “KOSMOS game instructors” and “The Settlers of Catan.” Being the product manager, my husband Sebastian Rapp helps me regarding the latter. …

It’s obvious – at some point I’ve tried to design a game too. I was just five years old when that happened. It is a beautiful story I like to reminisce about. Actually, the game still exists, which is why I have the wonderful opportunity to document this blog posting directly with the game map from back then. …